Uganda Reporters

Whatever your opinion may be, Semujju Ibrahim Nganda’s departure from ‘Observer Media’ will have far reaching effects on what goes on at the popular bi-weekly. It will be an eye-opener to those who do not know the intricacies of the independent media, not only in Uganda but on earth.

Last week I was browsing Ugandans-at-Heart?, an internet kimeeza which not even the NRM government can ban, when I came across what amounted to Nganda’s abrupt resignation from Observer. He used the same opportunity to inform (and shock) the Democratic Party, which had frequently laid claim on him, that he was fully for Dr. Kizza Besigye’s Forum for Democratic Change.
Political Career

Perhaps intending to alert the media, which seems to have ignored his presence at Dr. Besigye’s recent FDC rallies in Mukono, Nganda said he had already attended ten of them as an FDC and not a news reporter. He let us know that he had asked Observer to “adjust my status at the company because from now on politics is going to be my full-time job”.

I do not know whether he has been a director in addition to being Political Editor, but he goes on to beg Observer to permit him to continue writing “if my employer still sees some value in me…” Semujju qualifies his plea by indicating that if permitted, he will be writing his own opinions in Observer rather than news. But he is not through; Semujju goes on to reveal that he is abandoning his media career “mid-way” for politics and opinion writing, which is why he has resigned.

Lethal Contradictions:

Resigned? My opinion is that the harsh realities of this world have forced Ibrahim Semujju Nganda out of Observer and inevitably, out of mainstream journalism. Politics has again reared its ugly head and cheated us of yet another brilliant journalist. However, I think Nganda had it coming and it is a wonder he lasted this long!
Last year, Semujju’s biting pieces suddenly disappeared from the columns of Weekly Observer for a time, prompting some of us to fear that he had been bribed by the NRM into silence, or sacked. He apparently overheard us and returned with a bang.

Remember that in 2006 one of his ‘biting’ articles had landed the paper in the dock, which he shared with the soft-spoken James Tumusiime whose fault was to be Editor in Chief of Weekly Observer. They were charged with ‘sectarianism’, an addiction for very many Ugandan media workers, especially where sharp-nosed Ugandans like James Tumusiime are concerned. I want to mark this as a very serious contradiction.

Jingoism Unlimited:

Weekly Observer then became Observer when it went bi-weekly and anyone conversant with what that transition involves must salute whoever clinches it. Most of the leadings scoops were from Nganda and were focused on his crusade to “rid Uganda of dictatorship”, which to him means ousting President Yoweri Museveni. At Observer, he could not have been alone in this but he also had the additional task of being the semi-official mouthpiece of Baganda anti-NRM powers, some based at Mengo, many elsewhere.
As he became more and more politically active, Observer and Nganda became one and the same thing.

His opinions, especially on Radio Buganda left no doubt in many minds that the once independent English weekly had been silently taken over by tribal political forces. One stunning oath that made Nganda infamous was that he would slaughter a cow to celebrate over every other UPDF soldier killed on peace-keeping duties in troubled Somalia! A few soldiers have fallen on duty but I don’t know how many of Nganda’s cattle have accompanied them…

God of Commerce:

One other factor that you who merely read these articles (including this one) frequently ignore is that nearly every sensational article makes a media house less attractive to big business, irrespective of whether it is factual or fake. That is why the articles of some of Uganda’s best writers are scrutinized by the business managers of their media houses to see how many adverts (money) the biting article might kill.

Their silent decision is usually binding, as many notable pen-smiths have painfully accepted.
Nganda’s decision to quit was because he wanted to freely express his opinions and with honesty, not present them as news. This is a noble decision, but one that he should have taken about one year ago, when his well-researched and beautifully written opinions began to compete and defeat the hard news.
And as though feeling out of place, he ungracefully writes, “For me I cannot continue hiding under the comfort of The Observer anymore. Maybe Museveni will one day turn the heat against newspapers as he has threatened…” Was this a prayer that Museveni fulfills his threat?
It is not clear how Semujju, who has abandoned his professional calling ‘mid-way’, will earn a living from politics. His outburst against NRM bigwigs being funded by taxpayers speaks eloquently about financial worries in the uncertain future before FDC comes to power.

If Col. Besigye succeeds Gen. Museveni, Nganda will realise that Amama Mbabazi, Dorothy Hyuha, David Mafabi, Moses Kizige and others were facilitated by the state because NRM was in charge of the state. And that is exactly how ‘President’ Besigye will facilitate Semujju Nganda.

Kiggundu’s Heir?

I have however learnt from an article by John Serwaniko that Nganda may not be badly off, being connected to wealthy donors and very close to Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II. Serwaniko has also disclosed that Nganda may be FDC’s answer to the yawning chasm that the death of Dr. Sulaiman Kiggundu occasioned in the FDC. Mark that he joins as Kiggundu’s temporary heir, John Butime decamps to rejoin NRM.

On this score, the NRM should take care. Nganda is said to be one of those who missed getting arrested over the recent Buganda riots. Some speculate that he was even disappointed at being ‘left free’, which was probably because he was a journalist. As a politician, he will most likely get his wish and join Betty Nambooze & Co in the ranks of their brand of martyrdom.
But if NRM thinks they have removed another ‘jigger’ from journalism they should know that Nganda may now be free to ignore the professional ethics that have in the past sweetened the acid on his tongue, the bile in his stomach and cooled the volcano in his brains.

Tortured Child Ssebanga is Dead

Enock Ssebanga, the 12-year-old boy who was
almost crippled and starved to death by his parents has died at Mulago Hospital in Uganda.

Ssebanga became a topic of emotional discussion on FM stations, in taxis, office canteens and else where, in 1999, he was discovered by a Good Samaritan almost rotting to death at the cruel hands of his parents in Kyebando, a Kampala suburb.

His father Charles Kayongo and his wife Regina Nabakooza were charged with attempted murder.

256news has not yet established what has killed Ssebanga but a letter in one of the dailies by one Micheal Nsamba could shed light on the cause of his death.

In that letter written in July, the writer appealed for help to rescue a sickly Ssebanga.

“Your letter in the Daily Monitor touched me. I worked for Dr Ssempangi from February 2004 to Feb 27, 2007.Around that time Ssebanga was a student of Rookmaaker School where he had his PLE before joining Bethel College in Namulanda along Entebbe Road. Ssebanga was diagnosed with blood cancer and currently Dr Kefa has limited resources for his medication.

You can visit him in Ddandira, Mukono and come to his rescue. My phone is 0754-625346 or you can call the head teacher on 0752814090. You can publish his predicament and help him get people who can help him otherwise, he is dying,” wrote Mr. Micheal Nsamba,

Dr. Kefa’s NGO took him up and looked after him till he was able to go to school.